How to Create, Implement and Monitor Individual Learning Plans

No matter how flashy or comprehensive your Individual Learning Plan may be, a significant factor is how well you execute it and monitor the child’s progress towards their targets. But we’re here to support you every step of the way. So, keep reading to get started!  

How can I create an Individual Learning Plan? 

There are several ways to create an Individual Learning Plan, including downloadable templates and create-your-own formats; however, it’s essential to keep in mind that a variety of people, such as teachers, therapists, and parents or guardians, will be regularly updating and monitoring the document. 

So, choosing a format that is easy for everyone involved to access and helps to streamline the monitoring process is beneficial. 

It’s also important to remember that an ILP shouldn’t be approached as a ‘one size fits all’ template – one child may have a fairly straightforward plan of action, while another might need additional support and a longer lead time to meet their learning goals.  

So, using a rigid format that can’t be customised to suit the child’s individual needs is not recommended.  

Digital tools, such as Learning Pathways, can take the manual work out of creating and managing Individual Learning Plans, helping to save time and increase efficiency for all collaborators on the plan.  

By choosing a fully flexible and purpose-built tool to create an ILP, all those involved in carrying out the plan can work together seamlessly to achieve the best learning outcome for the child.  

How are Individual Learning Plans implemented? 

You might be wondering, ‘But how are individual learning plans implemented and monitored?’ – we get it!  

When it comes to implementing an Individual Learning Plan, consistency is always key to ensure the child’s learning goals are met.  

Before formally implementing the ILP, it’s essential that all collaborators are clear on their roles and responsibilities and that everyone has access to the document. This can be established through a preliminary meeting prior to putting the ILP into action.  

As Individual Learning Plans are working documents, the implementation needs to be monitored regularly to ensure all progress towards the child’s SMART goals is being tracked and the effectiveness of the teaching strategies is recorded.  

You can find more information on how to structure SMART goals for Individual Learning Plans in our ILP blog. 

Why is it important to monitor ILPs? 

Monitoring an ILP is important as it helps to continuously track progress towards the child’s learning goals and pinpoint whether the teaching strategies employed are working or not.  

With regular monitoring, any strategies that are found to not help in making progress can be ceased and modified early on to better suit the child’s changing needs. Ongoing monitoring also helps with the ILP review process, which we discuss in more detail below.  

Your school may also need extra funding to help develop and deliver the child’s ILP, so consistent monitoring and success tracking can help with the application process to receive future funding for ILPs.  

How can I monitor an ILP? 

As we’ve discussed, monitoring an ILP is an ongoing task that everyone involved in the plan needs to carry out. This includes daily recordings of the child's progress towards their learning goals and use of the teaching strategies implemented.  

For example, a child’s area of need (or target) might be to improve their communication and interaction with other students, so the child’s therapist might use ‘Lego Based Therapy’ in a session to help promote social interaction.  

The therapist would need to record how the child responds to the method in the ILP for the child’s teacher to have visibility of and add their observations in a classroom setting.  

Reflecting on the daily observations and recordings in the ILP can help monitor the progress of the child’s learning goals. This can be done through regular team meetings to evaluate and decide whether progress has been made towards the goal, keeping in mind the child's short-term and long-term goals outlined in the Individual Learning Plan. 

If it’s found that the child has met their objective before the given timeframe, that should be reflected and updated in the ILP prior to the formal review.

How do I review an ILP?  

Individual Learning Plans should be reviewed according to the timeframe agreed upon by the team implementing the plan, which is recommended to be at least every six months or ideally once each term. The review should be conducted with the child’s parents or guardians to get their input on the child’s progress.  

During the review process, it’s important to focus on:  

• Whether the teaching strategies and support have been successful or need to be adjusted to cater to the child’s changing needs.  
• If the child’s learning goals have been achieved or if they’re still in progress.  
• The overall effectiveness of the Individual Learning Plan – what’s working and what’s not.  
• Based on the evaluation, whether the long-term SMART goals need to be modified or updated.  

Now, that was a lot of information to digest! Creating, implementing and monitoring an Individual Learning can sound like a lot of manual work. But platforms like Learning Pathways have been designed to make the process as streamlined as possible from start to finish, so you can spend less time tangled in paperwork and more time helping your students reach their learning goals.  

Whichever method you choose for your students’ ILPs, you can refer back to these useful tips at each stage of the process for a smooth and thorough experience.